" it could have been your home." her words resulted into a stunned silence that shook him to his core
And then, the silence exploded into heat. Damien's hand moved before his thoughts caught up with him. He raised his hand sharply with fury rushing through him like wildfire. But just before the slap landed, her eyes stopped him.
"Don't you dare it." she warned with a voice he did not recognize anymore.
Her eyes were cold but not scared. They were sharp and clear as if she knew that was only he could do, he used force to silence her. He looked pathetic in them. His hand froze mid-air, his chest rising and falling, breath shaky.
For the first time in years, Damien Albercht hesitated when Evelyn didn't blink.
"You want to hit me?" she asked calmly. "Then do it. But you must be ready for the consequences, Damien." Damien's hand lowered slowly.
Damien's hand fell slowly to his side, his breath still uneven from the rush of fury. But it wasn't anger that remained, it was confusion and disorientation.
"What did you just mean, Evelyn?" he asked, voice cold but shaken. "Your family had worked for my family, what they did was their duty. and you..?"
"Would you sacrifice your life for me if you worked for me?" she asked back with a strange smile on her face as if he was the only one losing his senses while all this was a joke to her.
"Evelyn! Have you lost your mind?" he scowled with rage.
Evelyn didn't answer. She simply stared at him, calm and sharp-eyed, as if she were watching a man unravel from a pedestal of his own making.
"You think I owe you something?" he asked, eyes narrowing. "You think I am the one who is indebted?"
"If you hate me that much," she interrupted quietly, forgetting the reason for the argument completely. Her eyes stilled on his red face and her voice cutting clean through his words, "then why are we still married?"
He blinked once, twice as if he was sure that he had heard it wrong. But her expressions and wordings did not change. "What do you mean?"
Her chin lifted a fraction. "Why haven't you filed for divorce yet, Damien?"
The words felt like a slap. They struck harder than anything he had anticipated. His world, meticulously controlled, frozen in place for years, cracked without warning.Divorce. She said it so plainly as if asking him for breakfast?!
He laughed and shook his head. It was a short, disbelieving laugh, jagged around the edges. "You have lost your mind."
Evelyn didn't flinch.
"You think I would ever give you the final word?" he asked bitterly, crossing his arms. "You think I would let you be the one to walk away like you are the victim?"
"I never claimed to be the victim," she replied in a low voice, "You just assumed I act like one because you wanted to see me like one. And do you not want it too? I am only giving you what you have always wanted."
The silence that followed was deafening. He stared at her as if he didn't recognize the woman sitting on his couch. For so long, Evelyn had been composed, compliant, a quiet shadow behind the giant of Albrecht. He did not remember had she ever raised her voice, Or had ever stepped beyond the lines he drew.
His voice was low, shaking slightly. "Do you think it is this easy? I would have divorced you long ago if that was a choice. You know that my mother would never agree! She would only insult me in public to make sure that I bear the brunt. And my grandpa, he would disown me if I ever hurt you. You know that very well yet you treat divorce like a child's play. Evelyn, I have expected better from you."
"I will find a way to convince them." she corrected, rising to her feet with elegant grace. "If they knew that it was my decision, perhaps they would respect it."
Damien watched her stand with a deep fury burning his chest. His eyes narrowed at once.
"You have planned this because you have found a job with our name? Evelyn, you are so naive. Do you think they would have offered you work without my name behind you? You are nothing but a sheltered girl. you won't last a day without this name," he said sharply. "Without this house. This power."
She met his gaze squarely. "Then let me go. Let me prove it."
His throat locked. He wanted to scream and scare her but Instead, he just stood there frozen.
"Fine! You want a divorce, go and convince the family but I will tell them that I did not want it, it is your whole act." he cursed as he walked away, kicking a table in the process. "And remember, even if you achieved what you want somehow, you would only regret it in the end. You are lucky that you have us but you do not realize it." he muttered as he climbed the stairs and disappeared after the turn.
He slammed the door with force once he reached his study. Since Evelyn had taken the master bedroom, he had been sleeping here in the small bed and cramped place.
"After what I have done for her, she still dared to challenge me. Divorce! Ha! Did she think that I would fear her threat? Even i want to see how she achieved this feat." he pulled the tie and threw it on the ground then he walked to his chair and opened the laptop.
There were many emails waiting for him and slowly his mind started to relax as he concentrated on work. But then his eyes fell on the small red blinking dot in the corner. He frowned and after hesitating only for a second, he clicked on it.
"It had been a long time, I thought you had disappeared from this world, N!"